The present invention relates to stone cutting technology, and in particular to a rotary stone cutting tool and method for making countertops, work surfaces, tabletops and the like.
Natural and synthetic stone veneers, such as granite, marble, cambria quartz, Silestone® and the like, are used to make building floors and facades, as well as tabletops, work surfaces, furniture tops, kitchen countertops and other similar products. Typically, the stone veneer is fabricated in very large slabs from which a plurality of individual pieces must be cut to size and shape. For many countertop applications, the stone slabs often average five to ten feet in length and width, and are two to three centimeters thick, although a wide variety of different sizes and thicknesses are also available. Thus, the stone slabs from which finished countertop products are made are quite large, heavy, difficult to handle and expensive.
To make a stone countertop, a workman typically goes to the jobsite to make a template. Since building walls are not perfectly square or straight and the cabinets on which the countertop is placed are not always aligned with the original plan, the template recreates the irregularities, so that the countertop can be fit properly. The objective is that the finished countertop can then be used without significant modification on the jobsite. The template is brought back to the manufacturing shop where the shape is traced onto a stone slab. Alternatively, the dimensions obtained at the jobsite can be input into software associated with a computer numerical control (CNC) machine. The desired countertop pieces are then cut from the raw stone slab using circular saws, rotor-type cutting tools, water jet machines and the like.
Prior art stone cutting systems are commonly complicated in construction, expensive to purchase and time-consuming to use. Heretofore, problems have particularly existed in the formation of interior corners in angled or L-shaped countertops, in a quick and easy manner, without experiencing substantial waste. While water jet cutters can be used to form the arcuate interior corners of an angled countertop, the process is relatively slow, costly, messy, and uses abrasive powder or the like, which can damage the CNC machine. Other prior art cutting devices tend to waste a substantial amount of stone veneer material at the corner, which increases the overall cost of production.